You could tells the kids were excited from the moment they stepped into school today. Everyone seemed to be buzzing about Chicago (even if they weren't on the trip!). Students brought their carry-ons into Miss Hilton's room and excitedly made it through the school day.

Something that most of the kids didn't know was that our buses were ready to go way before anyone was even awake! Miss Hilton got a phone call at 6:00 this morning from Mr. Russell saying, "Your buses are here." The travel company mistakenly put down AM and not PM. I'm sure the bus drivers were happy to have some extra time for the long drive ahead.

We received another interesting speed bump around 2:00, which has changed our schedule for tomorrow and Friday. I'll post an updated schedule when we get to the hotel tomorrow.

The buses arrived at 4:15 and we immediately began loading instruments. The arranging of instruments was seriously a life-sized game of tetris. Moving this here, adjusting there, putting that on top of that over here...we packed this bay like pros. Big thanks to Dan R. for organizing bags and instruments. Shortly after, we got on all the luggage with room to spare! After a short delay on bus 3, all of us were on our way to Chicago! DVDs were quickly popped into the on board player and the bus 3 seniors picked Back to the Future Part I. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed this movie more than most of the kids on the bus, am I starting to feel a bit old?! Bus 2 started off with Lilo and Stitch and I haven't had a chance to catch up with bus 1, yet.

After departing Deep River, we hopped right onto I-95 for a straight shot down the shoreline and into NY, NJ and now, PA. We stopped at exactly 9:00 for a quick stretch and "short" food stop. As we got off the exit, the not-so-familiar blue and yellow lights appeared over the coach bus seats and I heard, "OMG, it's a Sonic! I've never seen one before, I need to take a picture!" Maybe we didn't need to go to Chicago for a cultural experience, just next door to Bartonsville, PA!

All kidding aside, the trip thus far has been as smooth as a well-played musical phrase (I had to...). The buses are gorgeous, with bright LED lights, immaculate bathrooms, flat screen TVs, personal electrical outlets AND wifi...well, only Bus 3 has wifi (which is how I'm blogging right now). Sorry buses 1 and 2 :0(.

We're back on the road headed towards Youngstown, PA where we will switch bus drivers and drive until Chicago. I'll post pictures as wel go but all the kids are well and happy that our bus ride is no longer 24+ hours! Bus 3's bedtime movie of choice, Ratatouille. Goodnight everyone!